Duleep Trophy
| Countries |
 India |
|---|---|
| Administrator | BCCI |
| Format | First-class cricket |
| First tournament | 1961–62 |
| Last tournament | 2014–15 |
| Tournament format | Knock out |
| Number of teams | 5 |
| Current champion | Central Zone |
| Most successful | North Zone and West Zone(18 titles) |
| Website | BCCI |
 2016–17 Duleep Trophy
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The Duleep Trophy is a domestic first-class cricket competition played in India between teams representing geographical zones of India. The competition is named after Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji of Nawanagar (also known as "Duleep"). Central Zone are the current champions.
The competition was started by the Board of Control for Cricket in India in the 1961–62 season. The inaugural tournament was won by West Zone who defeated South Zone in the final by 10 wickets. In the 1962–63 season four of the five teams (all except Central Zone) had their bowling attacks strengthened by a West Indies Test cricketer.
North Zone and West Zone have been the most successful teams with 18 wins each, though North's total includes one shared trophy and West's three.
Five Indian zonal teams regularly take part in the Duleep Trophy – North Zone, South Zone, East Zone, West Zone and Central Zone.
The original format was that the five teams played each other on a knock-out basis. From the 1993–94 season, the competition converted to a league format.
For the 2002–03 season, the zonal teams were replaced by 5 new teams – Elite A, Elite B, Elite C, Plate A and Plate B. These teams were constructed from the new Elite Group and Plate Group divisions which had been introduced into the Ranji Trophy that season. However, this format lasted for only one season as it was felt that the new teams lacked a sense of identity.
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